Mesomantispinae, Makarkin, 1996

Jepson, James E., Khramov, Alexander V. & Ohl, Michael, 2018, New Mesomantispinae (Insecta: Neuroptera: Mantispidae) from the Jurassic of Karatau, Kazakhstan, Zootaxa 4402 (3), pp. 563-574 : 570

Mesomantispinae gen. et sp. indet.

Figure 4

Material. Incomplete isolated forewing. PIN 2554 786.

Description: Wings. Isolated forewing: preserved length 11 mm, width 5.3 mm. Costal area poorly preserved proximally, 12 subcostal veinlets preserved, all forked and densely packed. Sc long, curving towards RA. 3sc-ra crossvein connecting Sc to RA. RA long curving slightly towards wing apex distally. Two ra-rp crossveins, one within middle third of wing, one in distal third of wing. RP with eight branches, forking distally. RP5, RP6 fork before mid point of vein, other branches simple for most of length. M deeply forked, fork not preserved. MA simple most of length, forking multiple times distally. MP simple for most of length forking multiple times distally, weakly pectinate. Cu origin not preserved. CuA strongly pectinate, with five branches, all forking distally, many deeply. CuP deeply forked, non-pectianate. Anal veins poorly preserved, AA1 preserved, deeply forked both branches forking at wing margin. Trichosors present. Colour pattern present as larger spots in line in Cu and M area, smaller spots in forks of veins across the wing.

Remarks. The specimen has been placed in Mesomantispinae based on the possession of trichosors around entire wing margin, closely spaced forked subcostal veinlets, Sc distally bending towards RA not fusing, attached by 3sc-ra crossvein, inconspicuous pterostigma, CuA pectinately forked. Being an isolated wing it is difficult to determine generic placement. It has therefore only been described to the level of subfamily: Mesomantispinae gen. et sp. indet. Some characters do show differences to the other described taxa: MP being simple for most of its length [separating it from Karataumantispa ]; RA and RP slightly curving towards wing apex, CuP being nonpectinate, deeply forked [separating it from Archaeodrepanicus , Sinomesomantispa , Clavifemora , and Mesomantispa ]. The similar number of RP branches, RP5 and RP6 being deeply forked, the position of two ra-rp crossveins, and MA being many branched distally separate it from Ovalofemora gen. nov., but these differences are not strong enough to warrant the erection of a new genus, or placement in an existing genus, due to the similarities of the wing venation between genera.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Mesomantispinae gen. et sp. indet. A.photograph of forewing. B. Labelled wing venation drawing.